Concretisation planned: Bengaluru’s ORR commuters set for 1 year of traffic chaos

Bengaluru: The main carriageway of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) tech corridor is set to be ripped open for concretisation, with work expected to last at least a year and trigger major disruption along one of the city’s busiest corridors. Under the Rs 378-crore redevelopment project, the existing tar stretch from Silk Board Junction to KR Pura will be dug up and replaced with 190mm-thick concrete roads for 17.1km, as part of a large-scale corridor overhaul.

According to officials from Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-Smile), the tender process is in its final stages, with two bidders in the fray. While the technical bid process has been completed, the project has now moved to the financial bid stage and work is expected to begin soon.

Officials from B-Smile said the official completion target is one year, though efforts are being made to finish the project within nine months. Despite monsoon approaching, officials said work will not be delayed until the end of the rainy season, arguing that immediate execution is necessary to complete the project on time and avoid prolonged disruption once Namma Metro services become operational along the corridor.

According to the detailed project report (DPR), concretisation of the main carriageway and junction improvements alone account for almost Rs 108 crore, making it the single largest component of the project. The redevelopment spans 17.1km and will be executed in two parts — a 5.4km stretch from Silk Board to Iblur and an 11.6km one from Iblur to KR Pura — while also upgrading six major junctions, including Silk Board, HSR, Agara, Iblur, Marathahalli, and Lowry junctions.

The disruption could significantly impact the city’s busiest tech corridor, home to 23 tech parks and more than 450 IT companies, with more than eight lakh employees commuting through the stretch daily. While there is no clarity yet on whether tech parks will introduce staggered timings or hybrid work measures, the scale of commuter inconvenience is expected to be significant.

When TOI reached out to Bengaluru Traffic Police, officials said alternative traffic arrangements would be worked out in consultation with stakeholders. However, they added that discussions on diversions are yet to formally begin.

The DPR also includes Rs 48.4 crore for service road reconstruction, Rs 17.4 crore for footpath upgrade, Rs 16.7 crore for street lighting, and Rs 9.8 crore for drainage improvements to support the corridor overhaul. The project also proposes rebuilding service roads, dedicated cycle-track space wherever feasible, and new brushed concrete footpaths with utility ducts for electrical and optical fibre cables beneath them.

In addition, new bus shelters, road signage, lane markings, raised pavement markers, drain inlets, utility chambers and improved illumination for both carriageways and pedestrian paths are planned as part of the revamp. However, concretisation of the main carriageway is expected to be the most disruptive phase, with commuters likely to face dug-up roads, lane restrictions, and congestion for months.

First service road, then main carriageway

In order to manage traffic during the redevelopment project, all the work that needs to be taken up on the service roads, including drain, utility, and footpath works, will be taken up first. Once the service road work is completed, traffic is expected to be allowed onto it when work on the main carriageway starts. It is also expected that by the time the service roads are completed, Namma Metro’s Blue Line should become operational, said officials.

“The main roads will be the last ones to be touched after all the other work is over,” said B-Smile director RK Mishra. Confirming the ORR concretisation project, Mishra said it is at the tendering stage and there will be no change of plans.